Growth and epitaxial structure of LaVOx films

We have studied the phase diagram of LaVOx films grown on (001) SrTiO3 substrates by pulsed laser deposition. With increasing oxygen partial pressure, the growth phase diagram varies between epitaxial perovskite LaV3+O3 single crystal films and polycrystalline monoclinic LaV5+O4. An interesting feature is the lack of an accessible phase corresponding to V4+, resulting in an extended region of phase coexistence of LaVO3 and LaVO4. Atomically flat LaVO3 could be grown in both layer-by-layer and step-flow growth modes, making this a promising candidate for incorporating strongly correlated electrons in atomic-scale perovskite heterostructures. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.